1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to microfluidics, and more particularly, to a microfluidic chip and a method of fabricating the microfluidic chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microfluidic chips, which are chip-shaped devices, are used in microfluidics to perform various biochemical reactions using a small amount of biochemical fluid or to process a biochemical fluid for biochemical reactions. In general, a microfluidic chip includes an inlet hole for injecting a biochemical fluid into the microfluidic chip, an outlet hole for discharging the biochemical fluid out of the microfluidic chip, a channel through which the biochemical fluid can flow, and a chamber in which the biochemical fluid is received.
Microfluidic chips, which have the organic thin films on an inner surface of the chamber using an organosilane-based material in order to capture the cells present in a biochemical fluid or to purify DNA extracted from the cells, are known. Such a conventional microfluidic chip includes a lower substrate formed of silicon (Si) and an upper substrate formed of a transparent glass material, and the lower substrate and the upper substrate are bonded to each other. An anodic bonding method may be used to bond the lower and upper substrates together. However, the anodic bonding requires a high temperature condition of 400° C. or higher, which may cause destruction or an organosilane-based material. Therefore, the conventional microfluidic chips having organic thin films have been manufactured forming the organic thin films through the holes on inner surfaces of the chamber and the channel using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, after bonding the lower and supper substrates together.
The conventional microfluidic chip uses the expensive inorganic materials such as silicon or glass, and the lower substrate and the upper substrate are attached to each other using the anodic bonding method that requires the high temperature condition. In addition, since the organic thin film should be formed through the holes after attaching the lower substrate and the upper substrate to each other, the fabrication costs of the conventional microfluidic chip increase and the uniformity of generated organic thin film may not be guaranteed.